Students and staff of the University of Adelaide are enjoying the
results of a multi-level all weather learning hub they helped design.

Located in the heart of the University’s North Terrace campus, Hub
Central is an initial point of contact for students, offering a wide range
of informal learning spaces. It is a place where students can relax and
exchange information. There’s a strong focus on student support -
whether it’s wireless connectivity, 24 hour access to computers, print
stations, Skype booths, the post office or somewhere to purchase food.

Architect firm Hassell spent more than 9,000 hours consulting
with students and staff to ascertain their needs and the functional
requirements of the space. The result, a 10,500 square metre hub
spread over three levels.

Andrew O’Connor, Managing Director
of O’Connors said the team opted
for an indirect evaporative cooling
system with energy efficient supply
and exhaust fans, as there was
limited chilled water capacity.
“Indirect evaporative cooling has
created an entirely new category
of cooling and is typically able to
cool hot ambient air up to 35°C,”
Andrew said. “The heat exchanger

modules do this without adding moisture to the air and at a fraction of
the running cost of traditional refrigerated methods. It slashes power
use by up to 80%.”

“One of the challenges of the project was to achieve comfortable air
distribution without it feeling draughty. The key to achieving this
was the use of twenty highly efficient Fantech Gamma EC roof
mounted fans to supply air and a further 11 roof mounted variable
frequency driven fans to exhaust air. Together they produce 465kW
of cooling and supply 35,000 L/s of fresh air. Fantech sound
attenuators fitted to the distribution system ensure minimal noise
impact on the occupied spaces.”

Natural lighting and ventilation to provide a healthy learning
environment were important aspects of the design. The roof system,
comprising screen-printed and transparent ETFE pillows, moves in
response to external climatic conditions to let the sun in or provide
shade. This places less pressure on the heating and cooling system
and further enhances the energy efficiency of the system.”

Mr O’Connor said the success of the project was highlighted
by the popularity of the area by students. “It represents
world’s best practice, addressing the problems
of cooling large open spaces efficiently.”

The innovative design of the project
has been recognised by peers as a
fantastic achievement and in 2011 was
presented with the Gold Award for
Built Environment by the Design
Institute of Australia (DIA). In 2012,
it also received a Commendation
Award from the Australian
Institute of Architects (SA) for
Public Architecture and another
Commendation at the Engineering
Excellence Awards for Innovation/
Research and Development.